Method and apparatus for packaging coins

ABSTRACT

Cylindrical packages of coins are dispensed at a plurality of stations onto a horizontal conveyor flight and moved continuously to an inclined conveyor. The inclined conveyor moves the coin packages in spaced relationship up an incline and discharges them to a hopper which reorients the packages in a stacked relationship. The packages are dispensed one at a time from the bottom of the stack in the hopper to opposite sides of an oscillating puck member which urges alternate ones of the packages in opposed directions into containers. The dispensing of the packages to the oscillating puck member is responsive to the presence of the containers and the number of packages moved by the puck member into the containers.

Price Oct. 22, 1974 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING COINS 1751Inventor: Robert K. Price, Peachtree City, Ga.

[73] Assignec: Currency Systems, Inc., Atlanta, Ga.

[221 Filed: Jan. 29, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 327,822

[52] US. Cl 53/35, 53/78. 53/148 [51] Int. Cl..... B65b 1/04, B651)57/18, B65b 19/04 [58] Field of Search 53/26, 35, 78, 244, 148

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,241,286 3/1966 Dcarslcy53/35 3.450149 6/1969 Poll 53/78 X 3,478,484 11/1969 Bctz 1 i 1 53/353.535.847 111/1971) Strohmcicr 53/78 X 3.570.212 3/1971 Murray ct a153/78 3.696.582 10/1972 Lodrick 53/78 X Primary Examiner-Harrison L.Hinson Attorney, Agent, or FirmJones, Thomas & Askew [57] ABSTRACTCylindrical packages of coins are dispensed at a plurality of stationsonto a horizontal conveyor flight and moved continuously to an inclinedconveyor. The inclined conveyor moves the coin packages in spacedrelationship up an incline and discharges them to a hopper whichreorients the packages in a stacked relationship. The packages aredispensed one at a time from the bottom of the stack in the hopper toopposite sides of an oscillating puck member which urges alternate onesof the packages in opposed directions into containers. The dispensing ofthe packages to the oscillating puck member is responsive to thepresence of the containers and the number of packages moved by the puckmember into the containers.

8 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING COINSBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION While various coin wrapping devices havebeen developed for the purpose of wrapping a predetermined number ofcoins into cylindrical packages so that the coins can be easily handledin known quantities, it is still somewhat difficult to count thepackages of coins and to place the packages into larger containers.Usually the packages of coins are allowed to drop into a box or similarcontainer until the coin wrapping machine operator retrieves a fullcontainer and replaces it with an empty container. The full container isthen moved by the operator to a counting station where the packages ofcoins are removed from their box, are counted, and are placed in a bagor other suitable container for delivery to a customer. The weight ofthe coins and the large number of coin packages placed in each bag makeit an onerous task for the operator to count and bag the packages ofcoins.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Briefly described, the present inventioncomprises a method and apparatus for packaging coins wherein smallcylindrical packages of coins are delivered by a plurality of coinwrapping machines to a horizontal conveyor, the coin packages areconveyed continuously by the horizontal conveyor to an inclinedconveyor, the packages are delivered in spaced-apart relationship by theinclined conveyor to a hopper, the packages are dispensed individuallyfrom the hopper to the opposite sides of an oscillating puck member, andalternate ones of the packages are pushed by the oscillating puck memberin opposite directions to the openings of bags or similar containers.The system includes counters to record the number of coin packages movedinto the bag openings, and in response to the counters the systemterminates the movement of packages into the bags after a predeterminednumber of packages have been placed in the bags. The system operatesautomatically to place a predetermined number of coin packages into thebags, and then terminates this function until the full bag is replacedwith an empty bag.

Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide an expedientand economical system for placing small cylindrical packages of coins orthe like into larger containers such as flexible bags, in a progressive,automatic system, wherein the manual labor required to achieve thedesired result is minimized.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent upon reading the following specification, when taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I is a schematic illustration ofthe method and apparatus for packaging coins.

FIG. 2 is a detail illustration of the lower portion of the coinwrapping apparatus and a portion of the horizontal conveyor belt.

FIG. 3 is a side detail illustration of the fluted transfer roll and theinclined conveyor.

FIG. 4 is a partial side cross sectional view of the drive means fordriving the horizontal conveyor, inclined conveyor, and fluted transferroll.

FIG. 5 is a front view with parts shown in section of the operatorsstation of the apparatus, showing the package hopper, oscillating puck,puck drive system, and coin package containers.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view, with a portion broken away, of a loadingtray.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now in more detail tothe drawing, in which like numerals indicate like parts throughout theseveral views, FIG, 1 shows in schematic fashion the method andapparatus for packaging coins which include conveyor means 10 andpackaging means 11. Conveyor means 10 includes a horizontal conveyingmeans 12, incline conveying means 13, and conveyor transfer means 14.Horizontal conveying means 12 is an elongated belt conveyor having anapproximately horizontally disposed upper flight 16 movable in thedirection indicated by arrow 17 and a return flight 18. A series ofsupport rollers 19 are positioned beneath upper flight 16 to assist inmaintaining the upper flight in an approximately horizontal attitude.Driving roller 20 of the horizontal conveying means is located adjacentconveyor transfer means 14, while an idler roller (not shown) is locatedat the opposite end of the horizontal conveying means.

Conveyor transfer means 14 comprises a fluted transfer roller 22 whichis rotatable about an axis of rotation that is parallel to the axis ofrotation of driving roller 20 of horizontal conveying means 12. Flutedtransfer roller 22 comprises a series of equally spaced concave groovesor flutes 23 about its curved periphery, and the fluted transfer rolleris spaced closely adjacent the end of the upper flight 16 of thehorizontal conveying means 12. I

Inclined conveying means 13 comprises a belt conveyor having an upperflight 25 and a return flight 26. The upper flight 25 is inclinedupwardly from fluted transfer roller 22, and a plurality of protrusions27 are equally spaced along the length of the conveyor. As isillustrated in FIG. 3, the protrusions 27 are substantially identical toone another and are formed in the shape of a parallelogram, with theprotrusions leaning in the direction of movement 28 of the upper flightof the conveying means. The protrusions 27 are fabricated from rubberand are attached to the belts of the conveyor by brads or otherrectilinear attaching devices 29 across the length of the conveyor belt.The protrusions pass with the conveyor belt around the lower drivingroller 30 and the upper driven roller 31, and the belt bends away fromthe underside of the protrusions and fonns gaps 32 between theprotrusions and the belt. With this connection arrangement between theconveyor belt and the protrusions, the protrusions do not have to flexas they pass with the belt about the driving and driven rollers 30 and31, and relatively hard material can be used in the fabrication of theprotrusions, if desired.

' As is illustrated in FIG. 4, driving motor 34 is located beneathinclined conveying means 13, and the belt 35 extends between the sheave(not shown) of the driving motor 34 and the sheave (not shown) of lowerdriving roller 30 of inclined conveying means 13. Timing chain 36 isconnected to chain sprockets 37, 38, and 39 of driving roller 30 of theinclined conveying means, the fluted transfer roller 22, and the drivingroller 20 of horizontal conveying means 12. The timed relationshipbetween horizontal conveying means 12, inclined conveying means 13, andconveyor transfer means 14, and the spacing between the protrusions 27along inclined conveying means 13 and the spacing between the flutes offluted transfer roller 22 as well as the linear speed of these elementsand horizontal conveying means 12 is such that the flutes 23 of thefluted transfer roller 22 tried to receive the cylindrical packages ofcoins 40 from the horizontal conveying means 12 and transfer them intimed relationship to the spaces 41 between the protrusions 27.

As is illustrated in FIG. 2, the coins are formed in packages 40 whichare approximately cylindrically shaped and are dispensed or dropped ontothe upper flight 16 of horizontal conveying means 12 by means of aconventional coin wrapping machine having a dispensing attachment 42that causes the packages to be dispensed onto the conveyor with thelength of the packages extending across the direction of movement 17 ofthe upper flight 16 of the conveying means. The attachment 42 comprisesa hinged door element 43 connected to the discharge portion of the coinwrapping machine 44 by means of hinge 45, and a reciprocatable actuatingrod 46 is connected to the door element 43. Upon reciprocating the rod46, the door 43 opens and closes as indicated by arrow 47, so that anypackage 40 of coins which has accumulated at the discharge portion ofthe coin wrapping machine 44 will be dispensed to the upper flight ofthe conveyor belt. Since the upper flight of the conveyor belt isoriented in an approximately horizontal attitude, the packages of coinswill move in an orderly manner with the upper flight. in the usualembodiment of the invention, several coin wrapping machines 44 arelocated along the length of horizontal conveying means 12, so that thepackages 40 are dispensed to the horizontal conveying means at severalstations along the conveying means. Because of the cylindrical shape ofthe packages 40, if one of the packages 40 should be dispensed on top ofanother one of the packages 40, the upper package would merely roll offthe top of the lower package and onto the conveyor belt without becomingdisoriented.

The flutes 23 of the fluted transfer roller 22 are of a radius ofcurvature compatible with the cylindrical packages 40. The cylindricalpackages 40 can be of varying diameter, such as a diameter as small asthe US. dime or as large as the US. quarter. When the apparatus is usedin countries having substantially larger diameter coins, the dimensionsof the various elements of the invention can be varied as may benecessary so as to be compatible with the range of sizes of the coins.The spacing of the flutes 23 about fluted transfer roller 22 togetherwith the speed and diameter of the fluted transfer roller correspondswith the spacing between the protrusions 27 and the linear speed of theinclined conveyor means 13 so that each flute 23 moves in timedrelationship with respect to the inclined conveying means 13 to transfera package 40 into a space 41. The spaces 41 between the protrusions 27are smaller than twice the diameter of a package of dimes. This preventstwo packages from accupying a single space 41 and allows the largerdiameter packages to be handled by the apparatus. With this arrangement,the packages 40 normally are moved up the incline of incline conveyingmeans 13 in equally spaced apart relationship with respect to oneanother.

Side fenders 49 extend between the delivery end of horizontal conveyingmeans 12 and the receiving end of inclined conveying means 13 and aboutfluted transfer roller 22. If the horizontal conveying means 12 isoversupplied with packages 40 so that inclined conveying means 13 andfluted transfer roller 22 cannot accomodate all of the packages 40delivered by the horizontal conveying means, the packages willaccumulate in the vicinity of fluted transferroller 22 and tend to pileup in this vicinity until the supply is depleted by the orderly transferof the packages by the fluted transfer roller 22 onto inclined conveyingmeans 13. The fenders 49 which are located on both sides of the conveyormeans tend to keep the packages 40 from inadvertently falling from theconveyor means during the backlog of packages.

When a backlog of packages 40 accumulates in the vicinity of flutedtransfer roller 22, there are some occasions when one or more of thepackages may tend to stand on its end on one of the protrusions 27 ofinclined conveying means 13. Since it is undesirable to have thepackages conveyed in this manner by inclined conveying means 13, springfinger 50 is supported in a suspended position over the upper flight 25of the inclined conveying means 13 and tends to wipe any package 40 offthe conveyor if the package extends substantially above the level of thetop surfaces of the protrusions 27. The packages so wiped away from theinclined conveying means then tend to fall back between the fenders 49toward fluted transfer roller 22, where the package re-enters theconveying system.

As is illustrated in FIG. 5, the packages 40 are discharged from theupper end of inclined conveying means 13 by falling over the upper endof the conveying means into a guide or chute 52, and move through thechute in the direction indicated by arrow 53 under the influence ofgravity into hopper 54. Guide 52 includes inclined bottom wall 55 andside walls 56 and 57 which converge toward each other at the lower endof the guide. An adjustable guide block 58 is pivotally connected toside wall 56 by means of tightening screw 59, so that the lower edges ofthe inclined bottom wall 55, the converging side walls 56 and 57, andadjustable guide block 58 define an outlet opening 60 through which thepackages 40 can pass. The height of the outlet opening can be adjustedby pivoting guide block 58 about its tightening screw 59.

When the packages 40 are discharged from the upper end of inclinedconveying means 13, the packages are reoriented from an attitude wherethey extend approximately normal to their direction of movement to anattitude where their lengths extend approximately parallel to theirdirection of movement as they pass through guide 52. Concave shoe 61 ispositioned in guide 52 at the junction between side walls 67 andinclined bottom walls 55 and tends to cause one end of the package 40 tobe moved through a higher path than its opposite end as the packagemoves down the incline through the guide. This lifting effect on one endof the packages 40 causes each package to turn from a sideways attitudetoward an end-to-end attitude as the packages traverse the guide 52.

Guide 52 is located at one side of hopper 54, and when the packages 40emerge through the opening 60 of guide 52 and fall into hopper 54, thepackages assume a horizontal attitude. Hopper 54 includes a relativelywide upper receiving portion 63, and then is constricted in its lowerportion into a tortuous path 64 with downwardly inclined sections 64, 65and 66. Because of the width, depth and length of the downwardlyinclined sections 64, 65 and 66 of the hopper 54, it is impossible for apackage 40 to move downwardly through the hopper 54in an attitude otherthan a horizontal attitude. The packages 40 tend to stack in ahorizontal attitude upon one another in the manner illustrated. Thelowermost package 40 comes to rest in a concave motor-driven oscillatingdispenser tray 68. Dispenser tray 68 functions as a dispensing means andoscillates between its full line position and its broken line positionto individually dispense packages 40 in sequence from hopper 54 to atransfer station 69 beneath the dispenser tray.

The upper wall section 70 of downwardly inclined section 66 of hopper 54is formed with a hinged door 71 which is pivotal about hinge 72 and isnormally maintained in its closed position by means of latch 73. Wallsection 70 is flexible and is connected at its upper edge to door 71 byspot welding or other conventional connecting means, and the position ofwall section 70 is determined by threaded positioning screw 74 which isthreaded through the door 71 and protrudes against the upper surface ofwall section 70, and by coil tension spring 75 which urges the wallsection 70 upwardly against the positioning screw 74. If relativelysmall diameter coins are being processed through the system, positioningscrew 74 is rotated to urge the wall section 70 further into the section66 of hopper 54, or if larger diameter coins are to be processed, thepositioning screw is rotated in the opposite direction to allow the coiltension spring 75 to pull section 70 up and form a larger passagethrough the hopper.

Oscillating puck member 78 is movable back and forth in a rectilinearpath across transfer station 69. The top surface of transfer station 69is formed by work table 80, and puck member 78 is driven by puck drivesystem 81 located beneath the work table. Puck drive system 81 conprisesdriving motor and gear reduction unit 82, driving sheave 83, drivingbelt 84, driven sheave 85, and linking arm 86 and 87. Linking arm 86rotates in unison with driven sheave 85, and linking arm 87 is connectedat one of its ends to the end of linking arm 86 and at its other end toslide block 89. A pair of slide bars 88 support slide block 89 beneathwork table 80, and oscillating puck member 78 is connected by means ofsupporting pins 90 to slide block 89. Supporting pins 90 extend througha slot 91 in the work table 80. When motor 82 is energized, the pulleyand linking arm arrangement of the puck drive system 81 function to moveslide block 89 back and forth on its guide rods 88, thus drivingoscillating puck member 78 back and forth in the directions indicated byarrows 92 across the work table of transfer station 69.

Counting switches 93 and 94 are located near the end or ends of therectilinear path of travel of puck member 78. Counting switches 93 and94 are offset to one side of the slot 91 through which the pins of puckmember 78 move so that the counting switches will not interfere with themovement of the puck member 78. The switch levers of the countingswitches 93 and 94 extend upwardly through slots 95 and 96 in the worktable 80. Puck member 78 includes an undercut portion 98 which is inalignment with the levers of counting switches 93 and 94 so that thepuck member will pass over the counting switches without actuating thecounting switches. When a package 40 is pushed by the puck member 78across the transfer station 69, the package 40 will depress the arm of acounting switch, so that the counting switches function to count thepackages transferred across the transfer station but the countingswitches do not count the movements of the puck member 78.

Work table 80 slopes downwardly from its upper horizontal section andhas inclined side sections 100 and 101. The side sections are recesseddownwardly from the horizontal section, and containers 102 and 103 aresupported on the downwardly inclined side sections.

The containers utilized in this form of the invention comprise flexiblebags or sacks 105 and loading tray 106 inserted in the sacks. As isillustrated in FIG. 6, each loading tray is generally open-ended andincludes bottom wall 108, opposed side walls 109 and 110, upper support1 11 extending between the upper edges of the side walls 109 and 110,and rounded handlesupport element 112. Strut 114 extends across one openend of the loading tray between the opposed side walls 109 and 110, andflexible leaf spring 115 is connected to strut 114 and extends in adownward and inward direction toward bottom wall 108. Flexible leafspring 115 together with its supporting strut 114 functions as anadmitting means for admitting packages into the tray and for preventingpackages from being removed-from that end of the tray. When a package ismoved through the opening 116 defined between the bottom wall 108, theopposed side walls 109 and 110, and strut 114, the flexible leaf springwill flex inwardly when engaged by a package to allow the package to bemoved through the opening into the tray; however, the configuration offlexible leaf spring 115 is such that the package normally will not beallowed to move back out of loading tray through this opening.

A series of spaced-apart rectilinear protrusions 118 extend upwardlyfrom the bottom wall 108 of each loading tray 106. The protrusions 118are formed as spaced corrugations in bottom wall insert 119, and theprotrusions function to keep the packages 40 oriented in a parallelrelationship with respect to one another and parallel to the rectilinearprotrusions ,118.

The top surface of puck member 78 defines a slot 1 17 which normally isin alignment with the lower end of flexible leaf spring 115 of a loadingtray 106 when the loading tray is properly positioned on an inclinedsection 100 or 101 of the work table 80. When the puck member 78 movestoward the ends of its path, the

flexible leaf spring is received in the slot 117 while the remainingside upper portions of the puck member pass around the sides of theflexible leaf springs to urge a package beyond the leaf spring into theloading tray.

The downwardly inclined side sections 100 and 101 of the work table 80both include hinged brackets 120 and 121. The brackets 120 and 121 areidentical and are approximately Z-shaped. As is illustrated in the rightportion of FIG. 5, bracket 121 is movable to a position with its leg 122resting flat against the inclined section 101 of the work table and withits second leg 123 extending at a right angle upwardly from the inclindeside section 101 of the work table. Bag 105 and its loading tray 106 areplaced upon leg 122 and on the inclined section 101 of the work table80, and the second leg 123 of the bracket 121 causes the loading tray tofit snugly up toward the horizontal section of work table 80. After thebag 105 and loading tray 106 have been filled with packages 40, thehandle 112 of the loading tray can be grasped and moved in an upward arcas indicated by arrow 125 to a generally upright attitude. The bracketpivots about its hinge 124. As illustrated in the left portion of FIG.5, the third leg 126 of bracket 120 and its turned-under flange 127support the bag and loading tray together with the packages enclosedtherein in the position approximately as illustrated. The loading tray106 can then be withdrawn from the bag 105, and the packages 40 will beallowed to move out the lower open end of the loading tray and staywithin the confines of the bag 105. The bag and its packages can then beremoved from the vicinity of the work table, the loading tray insertedinto another empty bag, and the empty bag and loading tray placed on thework table in the position illustrated in the right portion of FIG. 5.Bracket 122 hinges about its hinge between the two positionsillustrated.

Actuating switches 130 and 131 are positioned beneath the side inclinedsections 100 and 101 of the work table, and the switch plungers of theswitches protrude through openings in the work table. The switchplungers are actuated by the presence of a bag and loading tray 106resting on the inclined sections of the work table as illustrated in theright portion of FIG. 5. When the bag and loading tray are pivoted to anupright attitude as indicated in the left portion of FIG. 5, theactuating switches 130 are opened.

In order to correlate the movements of dispenser tray 68 with themovements of oscillating puck member 78, position switches 132 and 133are located at the path of cam 134 on driven pulley sheave 85 of puckdrive system 81. Switches 132 and 133 function to actuate the rotarysolenoid (not shown) which causes dispenser tray 68 to oscillate betweenits full line position and dash line position. When the cam 134 closesswitch 132, puck member 78 will be in its far left position and therotary solenoid will cause dispenser tray 68 to oscillate and dispense apackage 40 to transfer station 69. As the pulley sheave 85 continues inits rotation, linking arms 86 and 87 will move the oscillating puck 78back across transfer station 69 so that the discharged package 40 willbe pushed by the puck member into the container 103. When the puckmember reaches the far right end of its rectilinear path across transferstation 69, cam 134 will actuate switch 133 which will again energizethe rotary solenoid of dispenser tray 68, thus causing a package 40 tobe dispensed to the nowopposite side of oscillating puck member 78. Aseach package 40 is moved into a container 102 or 103, it is counted byits engagement with counting switches 93 and 94. The operator is able toset a predetermined number of desired packages into the control system(not shown) so that when a predetermined number of packages has beenplaced in one of the containers 102 or 103, the control system willdisable its respective control switch 132 or 133 so that the switch willno longer be able to actuate the rotary solenoid of the dispenser tray68 and no more packages will be placed in a container 102 or 103. If theopposite container has not yet reached its quota of packages, the systemwill continue to function to load the opposite container until thepredetermined number of packages have been loaded. The switch 132 or 133will then be disabled by the counting system so that the rotary solenoidwill not be energized by the switch 132 or 133 and will not function tooscillate the dispenser tray. When both containers 102 and 103 havereceived their capacity of packages 40 as set by the operator in thecontrol system, dispenser tray 68 will no longer function to dispensepackages to the transfer station 69 and the movement of oscillating puckmember 78 will no longer function to load packages into a container.

When a container has received its quota of packages 40, the operatorlifts the container from the position illustrated in the right portionof FIG. 5 to an upright position as indicated in the left portion of thefigure, withdraws the loading tray 106 from the bag 105, removes the bagfrom the work table, inserts the loading tray in another empty bag, andplaces the empty bag and loading tray back on the inclined section ofthe work table. When a switch or 131 detects the presence of a newcontainer, it reactivates the counting system and the switch 132 or 133in its circuit is rearmed and the dispensing of packages from dispensertray 68 commences again for that particular container. When both fullcontainers have been replaced with empty containers, both switches 132and 133 will be rearmed and the system will function to load on bothsides of the work table. Thus, the control system together with swtiches93, 94, 130, 131, 132, and 133 function as means responsive to thelocation of said oscillating puck member, the presence of the containersat the opposite ends of the path of the puck member and the number ofpackages moved into the containers for correlating the operation of thedispenser tray with the operation of the oscillating puck member, sothat packages are dispensed from the hopper on opposite sides of theoscillating puck member and are moved by the oscillating puck memberinto the containers until a predetermined number of packages have beenmoved into each container.

While the apparatus disclosed herein is constructed to expedientlyhandle packaged coins without breaking open or otherwise damaging thepackages of coins, the apparatus has been constructed to accommodateindividual coins which may have been placed in the system by mistake orby damage to a package of coins. As illustrated in FIG. 1, inclined coinslide is positioned below the return flight of inclined conveying means13 and coin drawer 141 is positioned beneath the delivery end ofhorizontal conveying means 12, fluted transfer roller 22 and the lowerend of inclined slide 140. As illustrated in FIG. 5, coin drawer 142 ispositioned beneath work table 80. The coin drawers and coin slide arepositioned at the locations where any loose coins would be likely todrop from the system, and the coin drawers can be opened to retrieve anycoins collected by the drawers.

While this invention has been described in detail with particularreference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood thatvariations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scopeof the invention as described hereinbefore and as defined in theappended claims.

I claim:

1. A method of placing approximately cylindrical packages of coins orthe like in containers comprising the steps of arranging the packages inparallel relationship with respect to one another along an approximatelyhorizontal path extending across the length of the packages, moving thepackages along the approximately horizontal path to an inclined path,transferring the packages from the approximately horizontal path to theinclined path, moving the packages up the inclined path toward the upperend of a hopper while maintaining the packages parallel to one another,arranging the packages horizontally and in parallel relationship withrespect to one another in the hopper, continually dropping the packagesfrom the lower end of the hopper to a transfer station, moving alternateones of the packages dropped to the transfer station in opposite lateraldirections toward containers, counting the packages as they move fromthe transfer station to a container, terminating the dropping and movingof the packages to one of or both of the containers after apredetermined number of packages moved toward the container have beencounted.

2. The method of claim 1 and wherein the step of arranging the packagesin parallel relationship with respect to one another along anapproximately horizontal path extending across the lengths of saidpackages comprises dispensing the packages from a plurality of coinwrapping machines at different stations along the path onto a conveyorbelt.

3. The method of claim 1 and wherein the step of transferring thepackages from the approximately horizontal path to the inclined pathcomprises moving the packages from the approximately horizontal path tothe inclined path in timed relationship with the movement of thepackages up the inclined path.

4. The method of claim 1 and wherein the step of arranging the packagesin a parallel relationship with respect to one another in the hoppercomprises dropping the packages from the upper end of the inclined path,guiding the packages down an inclined path into the hopper, and turningthe packages into alignment with their direction of movement down theinclined path.

5. The method of claim 1 and wherein the step of arranging the packagesin a parallel ralationship with respect to one another in the hoppercomprises stacking the packages horizontally in a downwardly extendingtortuous path.

6. A method of placing cylindrical packages of coins or the like incontainers comprising dispensing the packages one at a time to atransfer station, moving alternate ones of the packages in oppositelateral directions from the transfer station into separate containers,counting the packages as they are moved from the transfer station towardthe containers, terminating the movement of packages into one of thecontainers after a predetermined number of packages have been moved intothe container and moving each of the packages dispensed to the transferstation into the other container, and terminating the movement ofpackages into the other container after'a predetermined number ofpackages have been moved into the other container.

' 7. The method of claim 6 and further including the steps of dispensingpackages from a plurality of sources to a conveyor means, andcontinuously moving the packages with the conveyor means to a hoppermeans, and wherein the step of dispensing the packages one at a time toa transfer station comprises dispensing the packages one at a time fromthe hopper means to the transfer station.

8. A method of placing approximately cylindrical packages of coins orthe like in containers comprising accumulating the packages in ahorizontal attitude in an upwardly stacked relationship in a hopper,dispensing the packages one at a time from the lower end of the hopperto a transfer station below the hopper, moving alternate ones of thepackages in opposite lateral directions into containers positioned onopposite sides of the transfer station, counting the packages as theymove from the transfer station toward the containers, terminating thedispensing and moving of alternate ones of the packages to one of thecontainers in response to a predetermined number of the packages havingbeen moved from the transfer station to the one container whilecontinuing to dispense and move packages to the other container, andterminating the dispensing and moving of packages to the other containerin response to a predetermined number of the packages having been movedfrom the transfer station to the other container.

1. A method of placing approximately cylindrical packages of coins orthe like in containers comprising the steps of arranging the packages inparallel relationship with respect to one another along an approximatelyhorizontal path extending across the length of the packages, moving thepackages along the approximately horizontal path to an inclined path,transferring the packages from the approximately horizontal path to theinclined path, moving the packages up the inclined path toward the upperend of a hopper while maintaining the packages parallel to one another,arranging the packages horizontally and in parallel relationship withrespect to one another in the hopper, continually dropping the packagesfrom the lower end of the hopper to a transfer station, moving alternateones of the packages dropped to the transfer station in opposite lateraldirections toward containers, counting the packages as they move fromthe transfer station to a container, terminating the dropping and movingof the packages to one of or both of the containers after apredetermined number of packages moved toward the container have beencounted.
 2. The method of claim 1 and wherein the step of arranging thepackages in parallel relationship with respect to one another along anapproximately horizontal path extending across the lengths of saidpackages comprises dispensing the packages from a plurality of coinwrapping machines at different stations along the path onto a conveyorbelt.
 3. The method of claim 1 and wherein the step of transferring thepackages from the approximately horizontal path to the inclined pathcomprises moving the packages from the approximately horizontal path tothe inclined path in timed relationship with the movement of thepackages up the inclined path.
 4. The method of claim 1 and wherein thestep of arranging the packages in a parallel relationship with respectto one another in the hopper comprises dropping the packages from theupper end of the inclined path, guiding the packages down an inclinedpath into the hopper, and turning the packages into alignment with theirdirection of movement down the inclined path.
 5. The method of claim 1and wherein the step of arranging the packages in a parallelralationship with respect to one another in the hopper comprisesstacking the packages horizontally in a downwardly extending tortuouspath.
 6. A method of placing cylindrical packages of coins or the likein containers comprising dispensing the packages one at a time to atransfer station, moving alternate ones of the packages in oppositelateral directions from the transfer station into separate containers,counting the packages as they are moved from the transfer station towardthe containers, terminating the movement of packages into one of thecontainers after a predetermined number of packages have been moved intothe container and moving each of the packages dispensed to the transferstation into the other container, and terminating the movement ofpackages into the other container after a predetermined number ofpackages have been moved into the other container.
 7. The method ofclaim 6 and further including the steps of dispensing packages from aplurality of sources to a conveyor means, and continuously moving thepackages with the conveyor means to a hopper means, and wherein the stepof dispensing the packages one at a time to a transfer station comprisesdispensing the packages one at a time from the hopper means to thetransfer station.
 8. A method of placing approximately cylindricalpackages of coins or the likE in containers comprising accumulating thepackages in a horizontal attitude in an upwardly stacked relationship ina hopper, dispensing the packages one at a time from the lower end ofthe hopper to a transfer station below the hopper, moving alternate onesof the packages in opposite lateral directions into containerspositioned on opposite sides of the transfer station, counting thepackages as they move from the transfer station toward the containers,terminating the dispensing and moving of alternate ones of the packagesto one of the containers in response to a predetermined number of thepackages having been moved from the transfer station to the onecontainer while continuing to dispense and move packages to the othercontainer, and terminating the dispensing and moving of packages to theother container in response to a predetermined number of the packageshaving been moved from the transfer station to the other container.